In this picture I see a storm drain with a sign asking people to not dump things into it because it drains to the river. There is no river present, but it’s a reminder of the river that flows underground throughout campus.
What struck me was that as soon as I noticed one of these signs, I noticed many more. Even within about 20 feet of the storm drain pictured were two more, one of which I walked past before even noticing this one. But without having had this first one brought to my attention, I never would have noticed any of them.
This makes me think about how much of a problem it must be for rivers when people dump trash or even just other liquids into storm drains. Obviously, it’s a problem when people dump things directly into a river, but I hadn’t thought about how much trash must enter rivers through storm drains.
This picture makes me feel hopeful. The more awareness there is of the effect trash has on the river, the cleaner the rivers will be. I also like that the sign shows a picture of a fish, reminding people of the direct effects dumping can have on wildlife in rivers.
This picture is about conserving river and watershed ecosystems in any way we can. Some people go on walks specifically to pick up trash, others place or even just obey signs like these. While some of these activities are more helpful than others, participating in any is beneficial to the river.
